Search still on for missing bulldozer with operator

Mar 14, 2023 News

…High technology equipment now being used

Kaieteur News – Three days later, the search for BOSAI employee Neptrid Hercules continues and there has been no sign of him neither the CAT D9 DOZER that he was operating early Saturday morning at the time when he fell into a pit at the company’s mines in Linden.

The search has intensified for the recovery of BOSAI worker, Neptrid Hercules

Neptrid Hercules

The company has suspended all operations in the East Montgomery Mines and all manpower and equipment are being used to locate him. Since no one was around when Hercules went missing, there has been no clear indication as to where he may have been covered.

Hercules was at the time moving waste to a reclamation site in the mines around 04:00 hrs, just a mere two hours before his shift ended. He was reportedly working alone where two trucks were taking turns in transporting the overburden for him to compact. Kaieteur News understands that when one truck left and the other arrived, there was no sign of the machine neither Hercules. An alarm was initially made. BOSAI Mines Official Orin Barnwell related that the first rescue effort was to do manual probing of steel rods to determine where the machine was located. This was followed by the deployment of two hydraulic excavators to remove overburden as well as the use of metal detectors.

While recovery efforts are suspended after dark on instructions from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), an active search and rescue mission continues via an inter-agency collaborative effort. On Monday, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat visited the mines on a fact-finding mission to determine the cause of the accident, to give assurance to the family and to give directive to the company on the way forward. Presently, special equipment is on site to enhance the rescue

Prime Minister, Mark Phillips and other government ministers visited the site of the accident on Monday

capacity of the team. Included in the mission is GGMC, the Occupational Safety and Health Unit of the Ministry of Labour, and the Safety Department at BOSAI.

Meanwhile, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton spoke on the reason for the suspension of the search during evening hours and the need to also exercise safety for the employees executing the search. The two main reasons were instability of the terrain and poor visibility at nights.

“So the safety issue was the important issue because the worst thing we can want to happen is that we end up with more people underground and so all the technical people that are there consulted and took into consideration the safety of everyone. “This was not a willy-nilly suspension, these are technical people who are sound … they consulted and made a determination that it might be useful and better that we return in bright daylight to do this,” Minister Hamilton related. Hercules was an employee of BOSAI for over four decades and was said to retire this year.

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Bishop Juan Edghill, Bosai, Minister of Natural Resources, Minister of Public Works, Vickram Bharra

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